Life as the Middleton 'spare': How Pippa has endured string of failed career moves... and ridicule.
As Pippa Middleton and her high-flying husband James Matthews finally call it quits on their £1.3million petting zoo, one wonders what could possibly be next in store for the sister of the Princess of Wales.
She become an overnight sensation due to her figure-hugging dress at Kate's wedding to Prince William in 2011, but the socialite has struggled to truly escape her sister's royal shadow.
According to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, Pippa's trajectory 'echoes' the experience of Prince Harry, who has often complained about his upbringing as a royal 'Spare'.
Mr Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail: 'Life's lottery can be very cruel. No one can influence when they are born. Yet if your eldest sibling becomes famous, the spotlight often falls on you as well. If you lack talent, the obstacles can be insuperable.
'Despite the temptation, it can be unwise to try to cash in on this peripheral fame. The pity is that, like Harry and Meghan, she seems to want to prove something.'
While Pippa, 42, has dabbled in the world of books, fitness columns and even a brief television stint, none of these ventures have ever materialised. Instead, she has been subject to financial loss, public ridicule, and quickly cancelled deals.
Most recently, her big plan was to convert 72-acre Bucklebury Farm into a thriving business and family attraction with her husband James.
However, it was hit by six-figure losses every year, resulting in a debt of £807,543 in 2025.
Their plans to expand the site were routinely criticised by the local highways authority, while one nearby resident called the venture a 'snooty cash grab' that had become a 'place of snobbery and middle-class inclusivity'.
Yet while many locals may welcome the downfall of Bucklebury Farm - it marks the latest in a long list of 'unhappy business experiences' for Pippa spanning more than two decades.
After amassing attention across the globe in 2011 due to her figure-hugging bridesmaid dress at the royal wedding of Kate and Prince William, Pippa was quick to enter into the world of celebrity and embrace lucrative deals.
In 2012, it was announced Pippa had landed a deal from publishing house Penguin worth £400,000 for a book on party planning.
But, her party planning book, Celebrate, was not well received and sales were poor.
Mr Fitzwilliams explained: 'There are echoes here of Harry, whose ill-advised memoir Spare made all too clear that the supposedly inseparable brothers were far from being close.
'Meghan's much touted cookery series for Netflix, With Love, Meghan met a similar fate with reviewers to Pippa's book and viewing figures were low.'
Launched with much fanfare in October 2012, reviewer Jan Moir, writing in the Daily Mail at the time, pointed to her less than original ideas and her lack of any obvious qualifications beyond penning the blog on her parents' Party Pieces website.
'From the moment she appeared in butter satin at her sister’s wedding, Pippa has struck absolutely no one as the kind of girl you would always find in the kitchen at parties,' continued Moir.
'And would she really have gained a lucrative publishing contract to write about something she calls "simple, creative entertaining" if her sister were not married to a member of the Royal Family?'
Less-than-profound advice in the book included having a bonfire on Bonfire Night and serving pumpkin soup in a hollowed-out pumpkin at Halloween.
Other tips included telling her readers to prepare ice for drinks by 'filling trays with water well before your party'.
Two weeks after it was released, the glossy tome sank to number 180 in Amazon's list of bestsellers, and the internet retailer slashed the price of the book in a bid to shift copies.
Despite jetting to New York to promote her book, Pippa's efforts fared even worse on the other side of the pond, with Celebrate at 308 on Amazon's US bestseller list in the month after its release.
Tags: Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Louis, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Meghan, Lilibet
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